Scandinavian fixed-blades

[muskrat man]

here's my modern more "bushcrafty" interpretation.

[Froggyedge]

Sometimes a knife that you haven't seen for a long time will surface. This happened to me recently with this Finnish puukko. I must admit I had totally forgotten it...

It's a quite small puukko with blade length 8.5 cm (3.35"). The knife is rather plain and simple, while the sheath seems to have gotten more attention from the maker. This is not unusual for Nordic knives. The hide on the sheath is reindeer hide.

The reindeer traditionally has been very important in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland, and reindeers are often depicted on the sheaths.

It was really nice to see the knife again after several years. I think it was purchased some 15 years ago. Not one of my users, but I brought it on a trip and had to test it a little. The edge is shaving sharp, as we expect from a new knife in the Nordic countries.
My companion on the trip probably felt that the puukko received a bit too much attention...

[Roush428r]

Hi;
Just noticed this thread and thought I would post a Swedish Knife I was given a few years ago.
moss

These are great knives! I've owned about six of them over the years and four were made for Ducks Unlimited. Anyone have any additional information on this time? Maker? When made?

[Owd Wullie]

Here's one of my favorites.

[Froggyedge]

Owd Wullie,
Nice one! Do you use it?
From Lapua. Lahdensuo...
Any idea how old? May be from around the Fifties...
Old and traditional design. Nothing fancy, but made for all-round outdoor use, and they work!

[Owd Wullie]

I intend to use it. It sharpened up nicely.

The gentlemen over britishblades.com thought it to be no newer than the early fifties. They seem to think the sheath is pressed paper rather than leather, which they said was typical for post war Finland.

It is a great feeling little knife and I see no reason whey it wouldn't do about anything you could ask from a knife of that size.

[Froggyedge]

Pressed paper.. Aha!
I was wondering about that sheath and its pale look, but thought it to be a photographic effect... I've heard about those sheaths, but never handled one of them.
Put a nice edge on that knife and I think you will find it to be a great user!
Just be a little cautious if the handle gets wet and slippery and you are not used to fixed blades without some kind of guard...

[Owd Wullie]

The handle getting slick HAS crossed my mind.

I can imagine it would NOT be fun to slide your fingers across that blade..

I've got another puuko that I need to get photographed and posted as well. Same basic style, just later and different maker.

And I've got a weee TINY one as well.

[Froggyedge]

He-he... I remember discussing knife designs once with a very patriotic Nordic knife enthusiast. "Americans and Germans are pussies", he said with contempt in his voice, "guards on knives are for children, not grown-ups!"
That was his opinion, not mine, but traditional Nordic knives seldom have guards. I'm used to that and I don't really miss them. Especially a double guard limits the ways you can hold your knife and I find that at least a big guard will often get in the way when using the knife.
I'm no knife fighter and I don't do a lot of stabbing..!

Please post some more pics!

I will try to post some pics of an older puukko soon.

[Owd Wullie]

Here's that other puukko I was talking about. I can't decipher the maker.








This one came to me REALLY sharp.

[Froggyedge]

Interesting puukko!
I don't know much about these, but I believe your knife was made in Kauhava, sort of a puukko making capital in Finland, and once the home of several makers of traditional puukkos. Puukkos are still being made there.
I think those metal belt attachments were used buy a few makers only, and not for that many years ...

[Owd Wullie]

Good eye!

One of the things that really fascinates me about that knife is the sheath. It seems to have a vacuum fit. you can slip that knife into it as easy as you can and it still will not fall out if you turn it upside down.

Whoever made it certainly knew their stuff.

[Froggyedge]

A well-fitted leather sheath is considered to be a very important part of the deal when you purchase a fixed blade knife in either of the Nordic countries. The sheath is expected to hold the knife securely in place when you spend all day outside and hike through rough terrain, and at the same time we expect the sheath to make the knife easily drawn when needed. And then, of course, it should be good-looking!

[FRJ]

Hi froggyedge, this knife was made in Finland as so stated on sheath. I wanted to share it in Scandinavian fixed blades.
I enjoyed the history you offered in July 14,08. My grandmothers family is from Norway. Their name is Ellertsen. I'm very proud of that heritage. Thank you.

Joe

[Froggyedge]

Hi Joe!
Nice puukko!

Was that the history of Saint Olav and The Norwegian Lion?
If you are interested, you can read more about this most famous of the Norwegian kings here:
http://www.pilegrim.info/en/index.aspx?id=353809

Soon after his death, pilgrims started to travel to his place of burial, and even today many people make the pilgrimage to Nidaros.
http://www.pilegrim.info/en/index.aspx?id=842405
http://www.pilegrim.info/en/index.aspx?id=353807

The Nidaros Cathedral is the largest and most important church in Norway.

[Froggyedge]

Here's another puukko. Quite similar to the one I posted pics of a week or two ago. Althought this one has a 41/2" blade and has seen a lot of use.

I do not know many details about the history of this particular knife, but it has belonged to an old school teacher who's great passion in life was hiking in the Norwegian mountains. I'm not sure if he was the first owner. The blade has been sharpened many times and the knife has probably seen countless days and many nigths in the mountains. His son eventually got dad's old knife and kept using it for some years, but he was not an avid outdoorsman and did not take as good care of the knife as his father had done. The tip got broken off and he probably never sharpened the knife.

I brought the knife on a trip in the woods recently and took these pics. The knife has not seen fresh air for some years now and I felt it was about time...
The edge is very dull and I have not sharpened it, even though it was tempting. This knife has served for many years and I consider it retired now.
The sheath is decorated with reindeer hide and leather and has a depiction of a reindeer head with antlers.

. The sheath is still holding the knife securely in place, also when held upside down.

. It has the long belt loop typical for many Finnish and Sami knives.

One of those old knives that has served for years and that you really wished could talk...

[Roush428r]

Here's that other puukko I was talking about. I can't decipher the maker.








This one came to me REALLY sharp.

Looks like it was made by L & K (Luomanen & Kump.) and yes, they were a Kuahava commercial maker. Kuahava had over 150 Puukko makers in it's prime. The metal hangers were generally used on sheaths made before the 1950's, but some were made later.

[Owd Wullie]

THANKS!!

[Froggyedge]

One more puukko of mine coming up..!

This particular knife was given to me by a former employer many years ago. I like the knife, but as I may have mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm no big fan of the double guard. We don't see a lot of those on Nordic knives and I prefer it that way.
I think the guard sort of looks good on this model and although I've been tempted to remove it, I have not done so.
The main use of this knife for me has been as a backup or extra knife. That means that I've carried it in my backpack for many trips through the years without the knife actually seeing that much use.

This puukko is made by J. Marttiini from Rovaniemi, a manufacturer who has been making knives since the Twenties.

[justold52]

I love any sheath with rivets and even more with the tip wraped in steel.

[Froggyedge]

Most Nordic knife sheaths are made without a metal covered tip, but they are not that unusual.
In parts of Norway we have a sheath tradition where the expensive knives worn when you dressed up and with national costumes (staskniver) often had nicely engraved metal tips (doppsko), like these on two sheaths made almost 130 years ago.

Sadly not my sheaths..!

[Mossdancer]

This one has been laying at the back of the pile for several weeks. Thought I would post and get a couple of questions answered. Is it a Puukko? Possibly who made it? What does the "N" stand for( I thought maybe Norway)? Any idea of approximate value?
Thanks,
moss

[Owd Wullie]

I believe that one qualifies as a "puukko".

I've no idea who or what the "N" signifies.

Darn nice lookin little knife though.

[Cooter Brown]

These aren't very good pics--I need to work on my skills. There's some great work on this board.

This is a knife my sister gave me for Christmas more than 30 years ago. It's been on countless backpacking and hunting trips, and has seen a lot of use. The package it came in said it was a "Puuko", and that was my first exposure to the word.

When I first saw it, I noted the lack of a guard and thought to myself "I'm gonna cut the fire outta myself with that thing." Hasn't happened yet! The blade is stainless, and it takes and holds a great edge. This has been my most used sheath knife.

The blade is 3 7/8", OA is 8 7/16". The photo make the blade look hollow ground--it's not. The stamp on the blade is very light and what I can make out of it says:

"Hackman FInland Stainless" over another word, the fist letters of which I cannot make out. The last letters are "RKKALA"

The sheath has a plastic tip and a bear claw (hard to make out) stamped on it. I put on the rawhide loop when the original loop came off.

[Froggyedge]

Nice knife!
This is the well known puukko designed by the Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala.
http://www.scandinaviandesign.com/tapioWirkkala/

Made by Finnish Hackman, but the design has also been used by other manufacturers, like Norwegian Helle.
As a youth I got the Helle version and that knife was my most used hiking knife for years.
Most Nordic fixed blades traditionally did not have guards, with the exception of Scout knives.
When used to the lack of guards, it's really no problem. I've used such knives since I was a child and I've never cut myself because of the hand slipping down on the edge.